Dive overview:
- Cook Medical became the latest medical device maker to lay off staff. reduce The company said it would add 500 employees to help it “long-term success.”
- The privately held company that makes devices for minimally invasive procedures has positioned a 4% workforce reduction as a necessary step after years of “making a big difference to customers, supply chains and ways of working.” .
- Cook Medical’s action follows layoffs at Baxter, Illumina, Johnson & Johnson, Philips and a number of smaller medical technology companies in response to macroeconomic conditions and other changes.
Dive Insight:
Cook Medical President Pete Yonkman announced the layoffs in an email to employees posted on the company’s website. Jonkmann said in his email that layoffs were a “very difficult choice” management had to make to help implement “a new five-year vision and strategic plan.” Cost control is seen as part of the first phase of the plan.
“The first few years of our medium-term plan will be focused on areas of operational excellence and financials. investment,” Jonkmann wrote in an email.
Based in Bloomington, Indiana, Cook, a division of the privately held Cook Group, primarily manufactures minimally invasive surgical tools and devices. According to Medical Design and Outsourcing, Cook Medical has about 11,000 employees and in 2021 sales he had $2 billion.
Mr. Jonkmann told employees to reflect the fact that demand for Cook Medical’s products “continues to grow” and that hourly workers in manufacturing and those in distribution centers will not be affected by layoffs. he told staff, saying management wants to ensure the company has the ability to respond. The email did not provide details about the types of roles affected.
The 500 Cook employees who lost their jobs join thousands of other medical technicians laid off over the past year. Philips is making significant cuts, dismiss 10,000 people coping with the impact of sleep and respiratory equipment recalls, and Baxter, Illumina and J&J We also deleted thousands of positions in bulk.